Monday, Monday... and some recipes...

So good to me. You know that you know it, from the Mamas and the Papas.

That is the song that has been rolling through my head, probably because it's, duh, Monday.

I'm supposed to be doing a lot of things. Studying, cleaning out my fridge (has to get done today since it didn't get done this past weekend), cleaning out my car... those are the things at the top of my list. Instead I spent my morning eating faux Cheez-Its, watching some Barney movie, and snuggling in bed with my almost 2 year old.. the things that should be at the top of my list.

I love my little bit... the fact that she is so petite makes me feel like she is still this itty bitty baby. She stepped on the scale this weekend in my bathroom, and it was only fluctuating between 26-28 lbs (you know if you are almost two years old and hop up and down on it, it's bound to fluctuate... I've tried it myself to make the scale give me a lower number... no such luck). I'm almost certain her big sister had surpassed 30+ lbs by two?? Who knows.

On to some recipes! Now that we are back to living on our own, there is a lot less eating out. Here are a few of my favorites for the month of January so far:

1. Penne alla Vodka- sans vodka and fat, but not lacking in flavor! As always, I have my own twist on things. First of all, I use whole wheat rotini, not penne. Nothing special, just the local grocery store brand, Hill Country Fare or the like. I prefer the rotini because I feel it holds on to the sauce better. And who doesn't like twirly pasta?? I also use the cheapest, store brand, basil marinara sauce. It has the lowest calories and fat when you compare the the big names like Prego, and Ragu. I use one whole jar instead of measuring 2 cups.... it's about the same. I use 2/3 cup of FAGE greek yogurt, because I buy the extra large fat free container. That stuff gets used a lot around here in place of sour cream on tacos, heavy cream in recipes, and milk in my cereal (because I hate milk). Then I do a few generous shakes of dry basil, because it's cheaper than fresh basil. Plus it lasts longer.

2. Slow-Cooker Vegetarian Chili With Sweet Potatoes- did you click that link? You should to see the picture. It seriously looked like that when I cooked it. My twists- I used dry beans instead of canned. I did a quick soak on the stove of 1/2 cup of black beans and 1/2 cup of pinto beans. I didn't have kidney beans on hand, but it still worked. I *may* have only used a 14.5 oz can of tomatoes because I sent the hubby out for that, but I don't recall. Besides using a white onion instead of red, I followed the recipe exactly and loved it. The kids ate it up too. We ate it over Quinoa <-- buy this in the bulk food section at the local grocer, a lot cheaper that way.

3. Carolina Pulled Pork in the slow cooker- this actual made two dinners! Check out number 4 below. For this recipe I bought a decent sized lean pork loin. It had very little fat, and was maybe 2 pounds for about $6.00. The amount of vinegar in the recipe made me weary of the taste, so to be safe I only did 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce and 1/4 cup of vinegar(in the Kansas City version... the Carolina version had mustard and if my husband saw that he would freak). I had to use rice wine vinegar, because I didn't have apple cider vinegar, but I'm sure it would have tasted the same. So I poured the 3/4 cup mixture over the pork loin and let it cook on low. I came back to it, beautifully pulled it apart, added it back to the juices/sauce it was cooking, the promply proceded to make the exact same sauce (1/2 cup bbq, 1/4 vinegar) and just poured it right over. It didn't quite have enough "oomph". The extra sauce however, fixed it right up. I'm glad I didn't cook all the sauce with it, I feel that the flavors are stronger when it doesn't go through the whole slow cooker experience. These served over whole wheat buns with some french fries for the kids and a baked sweet potato for myself... sooo good!

4. BBQ Pork loin tacos- woo hoo for left-overs! We had a good amount of pork left over, so I decided to make tacos out of what was left. Tacos was originally on the menu, but it was going to be cubed beef with mole (10th thing on the list from the top). I figured the kids wouldn't like mole, so I gave them the pork and I fell in lurv with it myself! Served over corn tortillas (NOT FLOUR- gross), with a mango pico de gallo (again, thank you local grocer! Soooo good!), with some avocado sliced up on top. The good thing is the kids did like the beef, and we STILL had leftovers! Lunch the next day, woo hoo!

5. Inside out stuffed peppers- So this isn't as good of a recipe only because I'm trying really hard to remember the measurements. It came about out of pure laziness and not wanting to wait on the peppers to soften in the oven. I knew I should have written it down, oh well. Basically, I sautteed 1 lb. of ground lean turkey with onion (1/2?) and garlic (2 cloves?). I added a can of diced tomatoes (14-15 oz), a big handful of spinach, some italian seasoning, salt/pepper, and probably 1/2-1 cup of cooked quinoa. I think it was 1 cup cooked and 1/2 cup dry if I recall. I then added diced up 1 yellow and 1 orange bell pepper and added it to the mix. Served it in bowls with a sprinkle of cheese over it.

I'd say my favorites were the pork tacos and the penne (rotini) alla vodka. My kids loved all the dishes, but they tend to not be too picky. Alright, with the little bit napping, I'm going to tackly my to do list! I leave you with some Jimmy Buffet on this Monday. Hope the rest of your week is great!